I've mentioned time and time again that throughout the holiday season I am always looking for ways to incorporate Christ into our celebration and to teach my son the reason why we celebrate Christmas. I've already shared some wonderful books that accomplish just that but today, as part of my Holiday Gift Guide, I'm excited to share with you a wonderful holiday movie, The Promise: Birth of the Messiah.

The Promise: The Birth of the Messiah is an animated musical celebration of one of the most pivotal events in all human history, the birth of Jesus Christ.
This beautifully crafted musical is a faithful adaptation of the birth narrative from the Gospel of Luke in both story and song. The animated production leverages optical motion technology to blend traditional animation techniques with the performance talents of ballet dancers and dramatic stage actors. The result is a unique and worshipful story experience that will inspire audiences young and old for years to come.

ABOUT GLORIOUS FILMS

Glorious Films is the home of high quality entertainment products created from a strong biblical worldview. The creative and technical teams are world-class and have come to from all over the globe. Their first film, The Promise, is an animated musical about the nativity story that will be released in 2013. The second film, The Prodigal, an animated musical based on the parable of the prodigal son, is in production for a Spring 2014 release.

Our Thoughts:As I said, my thought initially was that this would be a great holiday movie to watch as a family and learn about the birth of Christ. My son is very visual and loves movies and seems to pick things up quickly from them, so I thought it would be a great educational opportunity. Unfortunately, my son is extremely particular about movies and at times won't watch those that are unfamiliar to him...which was the case with this one. This has absolutely nothing to do with the movie itself, just my son- I only share this to explain why I do not share my son's feelings on it. We will give it another try later, but at the time of writing this review, he's not yet seen it. Still, that did not stop my husband and I from watching together.

Unlike many Christmas stories that tell primarily of the actual birth of Christ, this story goes back a little further and really goes into Mary finding out she was to give birth to the Messiah, her reaction, the reactions of those around her and the events leading up to the birth. This certainly put a new spin on it, and I found there was even bits and pieces to the story that I was able to learn about. The story was wonderfully told, the songs were beautiful and there were even little bits of humor thrown in here and there to keep things entertaining. I will say that there were perhaps a few points in the story where I turned to my husband and asked if he thought kids would really understand what they were talking about- this primarily being reactions to Mary being pregnant despite never having 'been with a man'. This is not discussed in depth or explained in detail (I'd still let me six year old watch, no question), but could certainly raise some questions from the inquisitive child. Of course, this was a vital point in the bible so I fully understand it being included and shows that they tried to keep pretty true to the biblical telling, but still something worth noting so it doesn't sneak up on you.

Overall, we really enjoyed the movie and will certainly be watching it again throughout the holiday seasons, and hopefully my little man will join in next time! If you would like to learn more, or purchase a copy of your own, please visit the links below:

And...one very lucky reader will win a copy for their own family! Because we want to be sure that the winner has it in their hands before Christmas- this will be a super quick giveaway, so get those entries in right away!! Enter using the Rafflecopter form below:

Winner will be contacted via e-mail after giveaway ends, and will have *24* hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. One entry per household, winning entry will be verified. Odds of winning depend on valid entries received. A Modern Day Fairy Tale is not responsible for prize delivery.Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Meet Randi

Welcome to A Modern Day Fairy Tale. I'm Randi- a Christian, a wife and a mom. Here you will find bits and pieces of all aspects of those titles, as well as family friendly product reviews and giveaways!